Wenger smashed the Gunners' transfer record by spending over £40m on Ozil, who joined the north London side from Spanish giants Real Madrid on deadline day.

Reus, Gundogan and Bender have all been previously monitored by Arsenal, with the club's interest in Reus dating back to 2011. The 24-year-old forward is very highly rated in Germany and had an excellent 2012/13 campaign, scoring 18 goals and registering 11 assists from 43 starts in all competitions.

Gundogan, meanwhile, has reportedly been identified as the overdue replacement for Cameroon international Alex Song in a holding midfield role. The Cameroonian left Arsenal for Spanish champions Barcelona in 2012.

The 22-year-old Dortmund star made 40 appearances for Jurgen Klopp's side last season (between the Bundesliga and the Champions League) and scored four goals, including one in the 2-1 Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich. Interest in Gundogan was revealed in early August, when the Mirror reported a possible £20m bid for the player.

The difficulty in convincing Dortmund and Leverkusen to give up star players, particularly since both clubs are in the Champions League could be overcome by using the influence of Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker and Ozil - the three German internationals already at the Emirates.

Veteran Czech international playmaker Tomas Rosicky could also be a factor, given he has an admirer in Reus. The Dortmund youngster has been quoted as calling Rosicky his "idol".

"Rosicky had great technique and was so intelligent and mature even though he was still young at Dortmund. I copied everything about him - right down to his sweatbands. He was so unlucky he had bad injuries at Arsenal because, otherwise, he would be one of the world's best players," Reus said in April.